


Terrible

by PrinceSnoozy



Series: HurtNoctWeek [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Canon Era, Daddy Issues, Depression, Derealization, Gen, Hurt Noct Week, Many Regrets, Mental Health Issues, Noct's having a bad time, Regret, So much angst, Sunshine boy makes everything better, someone just hug noct ok, you're all going to hell with me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-02
Updated: 2018-03-02
Packaged: 2019-03-25 21:32:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13843452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrinceSnoozy/pseuds/PrinceSnoozy
Summary: Noctis regrets everything.





	Terrible

**Author's Note:**

> Look I wasn't gonna do something for Hurt Noct Week but I did it anyway because one prompt is Daddy Issues and I had an idea
> 
> The title is what it is because I am indeed terrible for this and regret nothing (unlike Noctis)
> 
> No beta, we free write like idiots

_"Why did he lie to me?"_

It had only been a day since the reality of Insomnia's fate had been fully realized. Or maybe it was a week, or more than that. Not that he remembered, or even cared at this point; the inside of the car was always the same, as was the inside of the tent, or the caravan, or whatever hotel they'd holed up in for the night. They all ran together, and all the hours spent in  _that_  car, the car that was once his safe haven, he couldn't take it anymore. So here he was, slouched against a tree, staring down at his hands, any cries of his friends calling after him far away and forgotten.

Not like he'd hear them, anyway.

The world around him had blurred into a dream, and his only reality was the small wooden teal figure that rested in his palm. 

**_"This one will protect you from your darkest dreams."_ **

Carbuncle. He ran his fingers over the charm, narrowing his eyes at the memory that seemed too far away to truly remember. In fact, he didn't even remember bringing it with him, but there it was, with the rest of his belongings in the car. Slowly, the memory came to him, the sight of his own hands placing Carbuncle in his bag with the rest of his luggage for the trip. 

He chuckled bitterly to himself, leaning his head back against the tree.

"A lot of good it did protecting me this time..." he muttered, letting out a puff of air through his teeth. "Couldn't even warn me that he..." He cut himself off, clenching his teeth against something sour that rose in his throat.

He closed his eyes and immediately found himself staring at the memory of his father's face, wearing the same expression he'd worn when Noct left that day. He'd remembered wrong: his father's eyes had been sad, almost longing, as if he had so many things to say but so very little time to say it. And Noctis-- damn him-- had joked around with him, following along in a game of teasing, if only to ease his own nerves about the wedding and leaving the walled city behind. And if only to break the uneasy tension he'd felt but not noticed, not in the slightest, even when the King of Lucis kept reaching out with words to his only child, the only family he had.

**_"Wheresoever you may go, know the line of Lucis goes with you."_ **

"Dammit!" he growled, slamming his head back against the bark, hissing at the welcome sting of pain. The branches shook above him, sprinkling several leaves on the grass beside him. Tears pricked his eyes as he opened them to the canopy of branches that sheltered him from the midday sun. "Fuck... he..."

_He was saying goodbye._

The realization hit him, and hard. He hunched over, clutching his abdomen, and his head landed against his knees. The sob that ripped through hims felt like a scream to his body and sounded like one to his ears. Tears clumped in his lashes and spilled forth down his cheeks, his voice straining for sound that didn't, in reality, come. His hands gripped for purchase on his own jacket, one still clutching the Carbuncle totem so tightly it may crack. Another sob tore through his throat and his arms threw themselves around his knees, bringing them up close while he buried his face in them. 

A hand landed on his shoulder, softly, but it was a faint sensation, like the warmth of a nearby candle. He sniffed and let out a ragged whine, leaning into the touch without so much as thinking about it. Through his haze, through this dream--nightmare--, he heard the echo of his name from a familiar place.

"Noct? Noct, buddy? Oh, shit..."

He tried, he really tried to say "Prompto," but all that came out was a strangled gasp. He shifted just enough that his face came away from his knees for a moment, and warm hands found his face, turning him up to look into another. He stared unseeing at freckles, at soft blue eyes, at golden hair. 

"What happened?" Prompto asked, rushed, just like how he'd grabbed his best friend's shoulder just moments before upon seeing him sobbing.

"I..." Noct choked on the words, his head going almost limp in Prompto's hands. "I was so fucking stupid... I didn't notice... "

"What, Noct?" Worry coated Prompto's voice even as another sob cracked in Noctis's throat.

"All this time he cared about me and... and all I did was feel sorry for myself! He just... he just wanted me to know that he... cared about me... "

"Who?"

"Dad!"

Noct's exclamation echoed in the small space of trees and rocks. The sobs had stopped, the roaring in his head replaced with his own labored breathing. Prompto hadn't moved, his hands frozen against his cheeks as they held his face. Silent tears continued to stream down his face, his mouth open in a futile attempt to get more air as his chest closed tight on his lungs. He closed his eyes and brought in a sharp breath through clenched teeth, holding his arms up weakly toward Prompto. He held them there, unsure of what to do with them, and his knuckles brushed softly against Prompto's arm, who followed the motion by removing his hands from his face and instead took Noct's hands in each of his own.

"Noct..." he breathed, his voice broken, and he leaned his forehead against Noctis's, holding both their hands against the grass. "Oh, Noct... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

Noctis sobbed on an exhale, almost headbutting Prompto in the process, who just pressed his forehead forward more and to the side, and Noct found himself in a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry..." Prompto repeated, drawing him in closer somehow. 

Noctis sniffled and brought his arms around Prompto's middle, and nuzzled into his friend's warm shoulder, and wept.

With the rustle of a bush, Ignis came upon the scene and paused, stopping Gladiolus when he, too, stumbled forth from the same thicket. They looked upon their charge in the arms of his dear friend, in tears, with his treasured totem beside him on the grass.

_**"Walk tall... my son."** _

**Author's Note:**

> On second thought, I'm really fuckin sorry for that


End file.
